Kinji Hakari started to sprint.
He ran roaring, like a delinquent straight out of a hot-blooded high school manga. His voice grew louder, and with his wild howling, his power skyrocketed endlessly. In almost an instant, he was in the zone. His erratic Cursed Energy scattered wildly, like a frenzied dragon flying close to the ground; the sheer pressure kicked up a violent storm, forming a literal sandstorm of dirt and debris.
Hakari erupted from the sandstorm, leaping into the air!
He soared upward, reaching a height of nearly thirty meters. It was so high that Yuki Tsukumo, who was bracing for a heavy impact, had to crane her neck to look up. But the first thing she saw wasn't Hakari's dropkick—it was a giant dragon taking a deep breath.
The kitten-sized dragon began to expand in mid-air, instantly transforming into a genuine, massive dragon—a behemoth over thirty meters long. Thirty-meter flying creatures simply didn't exist in this world, but now Yuki Tsukumo was staring right at one. It was like a flying mountain, a biological fortress. And now, this biological fortress had aimed its main cannon straight at her.
Dragon's Breath!
Yuki raised both hands to guard her face. The next second, she was bathed in the dragon's breath. The moment it made contact, she understood its true nature. This wasn't a Cursed Technique at all—it was a highly concentrated blast of Cursed Energy! Even a Sorcerer without an Innate Technique could pull it off easily. But what made it different from a normal Cursed Energy blast was the sheer *volume*—it was too massive!
It was like splashing a cup of water—it couldn't hurt anyone. But when a tsunami hit, even Mike Tyson would be crushed to death by the pressure. The same principle applied here. The dragon's breath was a tsunami of Cursed Energy, an endless deluge that felt like it could drown the world.
Amidst the deafening roar, Yuki was blasted into the sky like a kickball launched by a child. She felt her entire body burning from the flames, but she didn't even have the time to use Reverse Cursed Technique. Because right on the heels of the dragon's breath came Hakari's dropkick!
Releasing a terrifying amount of Cursed Energy, Hakari assumed the posture of a Rider Kick, plunging fiercely from the sky toward Yuki. Maintaining her defensive stance to receive the heavy blow, Yuki concentrated all her power into her arms, crossing her forearms to meet Hakari's Rider Kick head-on.
BOOM—!
The moment the Rider Kick collided with her forearms, a colossal sound erupted. It wasn't the sound of flesh striking flesh, but the grinding crash of boulders smashing together! The deafening noise kicked up a massive shockwave, expanding in all directions like a hurricane. Yuki's feet slammed violently into the ground, sinking deep into the earth. Even then, the sheer pressure nearly forced her to her knees in an instant. It felt less like taking a Rider Kick and more like taking a head-on collision from a hundred-ton tank.
The earth violently trembled. The school's master barrier alarm system was forcibly triggered, blaring as if a formidable enemy had invaded. Satoru Gojo lifted his blindfold, observing the battle with his Six Eyes, his blood unconsciously boiling with excitement.
*Kinji Hakari—has really gotten stronger!*
The ground beneath Yuki spider-webbed outward. In just a few seconds, the cracks devoured the entire plaza. She was certain she had fully prepared her Cursed Energy defenses, yet she still heard the sickening snap of her forearm fracturing. In just one exchange, she had been injured.
"Excellent, Hakari!" Yuki erupted with Cursed Energy. "You've really managed to surprise me!"
Cursed Technique Release—Star Rage!
Star Rage imbued Yuki Tsukumo with virtual mass far beyond imagination. Naturally, the higher the mass, the greater the force. Her Cursed Technique granted her the purest raw stats. Ten times? A hundred times? That was vastly underestimating the technique. As long as she willed it, every single one of her punches could shatter continents and redraw the map of the Earth!
Was there any living creature in this world that could withstand a continent-shattering blow? No!
No living thing in this world could do it!
Yuki let out a ferocious roar. Flexing her arms, she forcefully deflected Hakari's Rider Kick, even while pinned in a defensive stance! Hakari had launched his downward Rider Kick from a superior position—utilizing not just sheer strength but gravity and weight, leveraging every possible means to amplify his attack. Yet, that force was utterly obliterated in an instant.
The muscles in his calf tore apart, and his bones emitted a sickening crunch. The opposing reaction force launched him entirely off his feet. He flew backward through the air, like a baseball thrown by a reckless brat.
What terrifying power!
Hakari recalled the intel Kenjaku had given him about Yuki Tsukumo: Yuki Tsukumo was an all-rounder Jujutsu Sorcerer. She excelled in everything—Taijutsu, Jujutsu, Barrier Techniques, and Shikigami. If there was a standard for Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerers, Yuki Tsukumo was that standard.
And among all of these, her greatest forte was Taijutsu. She possessed monstrous strength!
Yuki pushed off her feet. The moment she stomped down, the earth violently quaked, leaving obvious fissures and a crater beneath her. Riding that immense reaction force, she sprinted forward wildly. Burning with Cursed Energy, she sped ahead like a runaway bullet train.
BAM—! Mid-sprint, she actually caught up to Hakari as he was flying backward through the air. Hakari's pupils shrank. He reflexively poured all his strength into reinforcing his body. Yuki suddenly leaped, spinning mid-air like she was performing an aerial ballet. Her leg straightened perfectly taut, pulling her jeans tight, gathering power like a wild leopard right before the pounce. And then, she kicked.
It was the most powerful and aesthetically beautiful kick in martial arts—a mid-air, spinning roundhouse kick.
Hakari curled his body to protect himself. The roundhouse kick slammed violently into him. His face twisted in agony, his eyes went wide, and his jaw unhinged from suffocating pain as he vomited a spray of white stomach acid.
He was blasted backward like a cannonball. BOOM! And like a true cannonball, he flew at least three hundred meters, crashing straight into a massive set of stairs. The giant staircase was made of solid granite and layered with barriers cast by Jujutsu Sorcerers specifically to prevent reckless fighters from destroying the area. Yet, that barrier was effortlessly shattered, taking the entire giant granite staircase with it.
It wasn't over! Yuki touched down, and the moment the soles of her feet hit the ground, she launched herself again. BAM! She vaulted forward to pursue! She didn't believe Hakari was defeated just like that.
Before clashing with Hakari, Tengen had already shown her his past records. She knew exactly how absurdly durable his body was. In terms of pure strength, thanks to Star Rage, she vastly outclassed him. But in terms of bodily toughness, no one in the entire Jujutsu society—not even Satoru Gojo—could top Kinji Hakari!
Even without his infinite Cursed Energy, Hakari's sheer physical durability rivaled that of a Special Grade Cursed Spirit. And his defenses were impeccable. Yuki was certain Hakari had only suffered light injuries.
But before Yuki could follow up, a colossal creature descended from above. The giant dragon plunged from the sky, flying so low that the plaza's pavement began to crack and peel backward like rolling waves under the immense wind pressure. Using its massive body, the dragon rammed straight into Yuki.
The heaviest tank in the world was the German Maus, but even the Maus was only about 10 meters long and weighed 150 tons. This giant dragon was a full thirty meters long, weighing well over 200 tons. Such a behemoth crashing toward her with absolute conviction carried a wind pressure alone capable of obliterating a human body.
If the dragon had used its breath attack from the sky, Yuki could have just tanked it with her body and continued her pursuit. But now, the dragon was throwing its entire self at her like a weapon. She couldn't dodge. It was a thirty-meter-long, homing cannonball. She couldn't escape!
Forced to halt her pursuit, Yuki dropped into a horse stance on the spot and pulled her fist back to her waist. The Star Rage technique reverberated from her Cursed Energy core through all her limbs and bones. She suddenly went dead silent, save for the burning Cursed Energy erupting around her.
And then, the collision!
Yuki let out a piercing battle cry. Her cocked fist smashed furiously into the incoming dragon's head. KABOOM!
The thunderous boom sounded like an artillery shell striking a fortress. In an instant, this aerial biological fortress was violently skewed by Yuki's single punch. A hurricane was birthed from the sheer force of their impact. The dragon's head was half-destroyed, half of its face blasted entirely off. The behemoth actually spun through the air several times like a top before crashing heavily to the ground, producing a massive shockwave that felt like a skyscraper collapsing on the spot.
A fist abruptly jutted out of the smoke and dust. The shadow of that fist reflected in Yuki's pupils, along with the face behind it.
Kinji Hakari! He had rushed over from the ruins of the giant staircase the moment Yuki sent the dragon flying. Clenching his fist, he swung savagely at her face.
Yuki didn't hesitate for a microsecond. She immediately threw her own fist at Hakari's face. Trading blows!
Hakari's pupils constricted. He immediately retracted his punch to dodge. The massive wind from her fist clipped his cheek, slicing past him like a flurry of blades. The wind pressure deformed his face, twisting his features into wrinkles. Right call! If he had traded blows just then, that single hit would have been enough to blow his head to pieces.
Yuki immediately brought her knee up for a knee strike! Hakari retreated again. The knee nearly grazed his abs. If that had connected, Hakari would likely have been snapped in half on the spot. Imagining that grisly outcome, a drop of cold sweat unnoticeably slid down his forehead.
*So strong! She's ridiculously strong!*
Hakari was well aware of how powerful Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerers were, of course. He had fought two of them before. The first, naturally, was Satoru Gojo. But Gojo was just too much—fighting him was just getting kicked around like a rubber ball without feeling any sense of actual combat. The other Special Grade was his junior, Yuta Okkotsu. But Okkotsu's status as a Special Grade came from his endless arsenal of copied techniques; fighting him felt like an absolute war of attrition.
Satoru Gojo felt like an anomaly, entirely outside the realm of discussion at all times.
Yuta Okkotsu felt complex, relying on the combination of various techniques to secure victory.
But now, Yuki Tsukumo gave Hakari an entirely different sensation. It was so pure. So simple. So visceral.
Strong! Aside from "strong," Hakari literally couldn't think of another word. She was simply, simply—
"THIS IS FANTASTIC!" Hakari's roar carried a mix of terror and absolute thrill. Suddenly, he dropped all his defenses—right in front of Yuki's incoming fist!
Yuki's pupils shrank. It was too late to pull her punch. The fist, imbued with the Star Rage technique, slammed ruthlessly into Hakari's chest—right into his heart.
BOOM!
"Shit. Are you insane?!" Yuki bellowed.
Even though she had pulled her punch at the critical moment, the sheer devastating force was still lethal. Half of Hakari's body simply disintegrated. His heart was completely blown away, along with the entire side of his torso! Blood and meat flew into the sky, accompanied by an explosive arterial spray from his obliterated heart.
Hakari opened his mouth and uttered his dying words.
"Domain Expansion—" he croaked.
"—Idle Death Gamble!"
Yuki was utterly in disbelief. Hakari hadn't formed a hand sign! Because that punch had just blasted away half of his body, heart included, he literally didn't have a second hand left to weave signs.
*Could he cast Domain Expansion without a hand sign?! Not even Satoru Gojo can do that—*
A Shinkansen station suddenly materialized before Yuki. Rows of ticket gates appeared, and an illusory Pachinko interface manifested in front of the two combatants inside the domain barrier. The sound of heavy panting echoed out. Yuki subconsciously turned her head to see a boy emerging from the Shinkansen corridor.
The moment the Domain expanded, its rules were forcibly written into Yuki's brain:
A Domain Expansion modeled after the legal gambling game, Pachinko. The user could perform infinite spins. Each spin required a set cooldown time before the next one could be triggered. If a Jackpot was hit, for exactly 4 minutes and 11 seconds starting from the moment of the jackpot, the user would be granted infinite Cursed Energy.
Yuki perfectly understood the rules, and she also knew Hakari definitively had a way to boost the odds. She had received Hakari's complete dossier from Tengen. Hakari's technique was called Probability Shift; as long as it involved gambling, he was guaranteed to hit a Jackpot within 30 spins.
But this technique was a cumulative type. It only guaranteed a payout *within* 30 spins; it didn't mean the probability linearly increased as it approached the 30th attempt.
In other words, for the very first spin, the technique's buff was non-existent. Hakari's chance of hitting a Jackpot was identical to a real-life Pachinko machine: 1/239!
"Cancel the Domain Expansion!" Yuki immediately shouted. "You're inside the school right now, you can still be saved!"
"What are you talking about, Master Yuki?" Hakari cracked a smile. "Our sparring match... isn't over yet!"
DING! The spin begins!
Female Lead, Female Lead, Riichi!
Yuki froze in sheer shock, because the third slot on the display landed on—Female Lead!
Female Lead, Female Lead, Riichi, Female Lead! —JACKPOT!
In an instant, a colossal surge of Cursed Energy erupted from Hakari's body. Yuki's golden blonde hair whipped around like a flag in the gale. She stared at Hakari in total disbelief. Hakari's body was currently regenerating at a visibly rapid speed. Because of the overflowing volume of Cursed Energy, the negative multiplied by negative automatically triggered, causing Reverse Cursed Technique to cycle continuously on its own.
A burst of music drifted in from afar—the theme song to *Private Pure Love Train*.
Hakari slowly got to his feet. He ripped off the shredded remains of his jacket and casually tossed it aside. He stood bare-chested. Just a moment ago, half his body had been blown to bits, his heart completely pulverized, yet now his bare skin bore not a single scratch. His muscle definition was sharp, like a masterpiece sculpted from marble.
From this moment until the end of the *Private Pure Love Train* theme song, Kinji Hakari possessed infinite Cursed Energy. 4 minutes and 11 seconds of absolute immortality!
This man had seized true power through pure luck!
Hakari rolled his neck, letting out a sharp, satisfying *crack-crack*. He looked at the dumbfounded Yuki and extended a hand, like a gentleman inviting a lady to dance at a ballroom.
He said, "Come on then, Master Yuki."
He split his face into a grin that mirrored a demonic ghoul. "Round Two, let's go!"
Suddenly, a thunderous roar erupted from behind Yuki. She reflexively turned around. A giant dragon was uncoiling its massive body. The very same beast she had knocked flat with a single blow was now igniting with Cursed Energy. Infinite Cursed Energy! As it stretched, its body began to swell once more. Its original thirty-meter frame expanded at a terrifying rate.
Thirty-five meters. Forty meters. Fifty meters!
The giant dragon lowered its head, glaring down at Yuki like a colossal kaiju from a Tokusatsu film looking down at a mortal ant. Yuki saw it—the dragon's two front claws were extended, locked in a hand sign.
*This giant dragon performed the hand sign for Hakari. That's why he could cast Domain Expansion without moving his own hands—* No, that wasn't it. Yuki recalled Mei Mei's intel regarding his 'immortality.' The Cursed Spirits referred to this giant dragon as a 'Companion Spirit.' It was an external organ.
*This dragon... IS Kinji Hakari!*
*I see. So this is the true power of combining 'immortality' with infinite Cursed Energy?* In a normal infinite Cursed Energy nesting-doll loop, every reset required the specific hand sign for Domain Expansion. Therefore, interrupting that exact motion at the critical moment could break the infinite loop. Hakari's immortality wasn't without its gaps and weaknesses.
As long as the loop wasn't seamless, it had openings and flaws. Even with his infinite Cursed Energy, this was exactly why Hakari hadn't been classified as a Special Grade—he lacked the flawless infallibility of a Special Grade.
But the appearance of the giant dragon compensated for this exact weakness. Not only that, because the dragon *was* Hakari himself, even if an enemy simultaneously crushed the Cursed Technique in his brain and the Cursed Energy core in his gut, he could still use the dragon to heal himself in reverse...
—Just like how the dragon had been beaten down, yet he could use his own infinite flow to heal it!
At this exact moment, Kinji Hakari had finally shed his title as the "Uncrowned Special Grade." He had truly stepped into the realm of Special Grade, becoming a one-man final weapon capable of overthrowing an entire nation. He had become a genuine Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer.
Yuki Tsukumo licked her lips, repeating the exact words she used when the fight began:
"Bring it on... brat!"